33 



ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



the task of constructing a theory from the ma 

 terials we thus prepare. 



Were we now to suppose, that, instead of one 

 observer of geological facts that now exists, 

 thousands were distributed throughout the dif 

 ferent continents and islands, having their minds 

 occasionally directed to such investigations ; 

 that the miners and labourers in coal-pits, iron- 

 mines, and quarries, not only in Europe, but 

 throughout Mexico and Peru, in the East and 

 West Indies, in Canada, in New Holland, in 

 Southern Africa, in the ranges of the Alps, the 

 Andes, the Himalayas, and other quarters, ob 

 served with attention the various phenomena of 

 nature subject to their inspection, with this ob 

 ject in view ; that sailors, missionaries, and tra 

 vellers of every description, contemplated the 

 different aspects of nature in the regions through 

 which they passed, and recorded the facts which 

 came under their observation, for a similar pur 

 pose ; and could we still farther suppose, that 

 the great body of mankind in every clime might, 

 at no distant period, have their minds directed 

 to similar subjects, there cannot be the least 

 doubt but an immense multitude of important 

 facts would soon be accumulated, which would 

 throw a striking light on the constitution of our 

 planetary globe, and on the changes and revolu 

 tions through which it has passed, which would 

 form a broad basis for the erection of a true 

 theory of the earth, and tend either to establish 

 or to overthrow the hypotheses which have hi 

 therto been framed. Persons in the lower 

 spheres of life have, in many cases, more fre 

 quent opportunities of ascertaining facts of the 

 description to which I allude, than many others 

 who are placed in an elevated rank. Colliers, 

 quarriers, miners of every description, and the 

 inhabitants of Alpine districts, are almost daily 

 in contact with objects connected with geolo 

 gical research ; and it is only requisite that their 

 attention be directed to such inquiries that the 

 knowledge of a few elementary terms and prin 

 ciples be imparted to them that they be di 

 rected to classify the facts which fall under their 

 observation and that a systematic list of que 

 ries, such as those published some years ago by 

 the London &quot; Geological Society,&quot; be put into 

 their hands.* 



* The queries to which I refer may be seen in the 

 &quot;Monthly Magazine&quot; for June 1817, pp. 4369. A 

 few years ago, some interesting fossil remains, sup 

 posed to be the teeth and other bones of the extinct 

 animal designated by the name of Mammoth, were 

 almost entirely destroyed through the ignorance of 

 some labourers in the parish of Horley, who hap 

 pened to hit upon them when digging gravel. After 

 --leaving them to pieces with their pick-axes, and 

 finding it added nothingto their store of knowledge, 

 &quot;they threw away the fragments among the heaps 

 of gravel, and the subject was consigned to obli 

 vion ; and it was only by accident that two entire 

 .eeth were found by a gentleman in the neighbour- 

 nood. The bones supposed to have been either de- 

 troyed or lost, are a very large bone, supposed to 



Natural History. It is evident that the ex 

 tension and improvement of this department ol 

 knowledge depends almost entirely on obse Ca 

 tion. Although a considerable accession has 

 of late years been made to our knowledge in this 

 branch of study, yet much still remains to be 

 accomplished before all the objects it emb.-aceg 

 be thoroughly explored. Our acquaintance with 

 the zoology, botany, and mineralogy of New 

 Holland, Polynesia, Birmah, China, Tartary, 

 Thibet, Africa, and America, is extremely li 

 mited ; and even within the limits of Europe, 

 numerous unexplored regions still lie open to the 

 future researches of the natural historian. So 

 numerous are the objects and investigations 

 which natural history presents, that although its 

 cultivators were increased ten thousand-fold, 

 they would find sufficient employment in the 

 prosecution of new discoveries for many centu 

 ries to come. Even those minute objects, in the 

 animal and vegetable kingdoms, which lie be 

 yond the natural sphere of human vision, and 

 which the microscope alone can discover, woulq 

 afford scope for the investigations of thousands 

 of ingenious inquirers, during an indefinite series 

 of ages. And it ought never to be forgotten, 

 that every new object and process we are ena 

 bled o trace in this boundless field of observa 

 tion, presents to us the Deity in a new aspect, 

 and enables us to form more enlarged concep 

 tions of that power and intelligence which pro 

 duced the immense assemblage of beings with 

 which we are surrounded. 



Independently of the additions that might be 

 made to our knowledge of animals, vegetables 

 and minerals, there are several facts in natural 

 history which miirht be more precisely ascer 

 tained and explained, were common labourers 

 and others in the same rank of life inspired with 

 the spirit of philosophical observation. For the 

 illustration of this, I shall state only one parti 

 cular circumstance. It is a fact, which, how 

 ever inexplicable, must be admitted, that toads 

 have been found alive in the heart of solid rocks, 

 and in the trunks of trees, where they have 

 been supposed to have existed for ages without 

 any apparent access to nourishment or to air. 

 Such facts are supported by so numerous and 

 so respectable authorities, that it would be vain 

 to call in question their reality ; and they as 

 sume a more mysterious aspect, from the cir 

 cumstance, that toads, when placed in the ex 

 hausted receiver of an air-pump x like all other 

 animals, soon lose their existence. That the 



have been a thigh-bone ; a huge blade-bone ; and a 

 tusk of ivory, perfect in its form, described as being 

 about half a rod in length.&quot; Had these labourers 

 been aware of the interesting nature of such fossils, 

 they might have been all preserved entire ; and this 

 circumstance shows how important such occur 

 rences, and the observations and researches of com 

 mon labourers, might sometimes prove to the geolo 

 gist and the general bvudent of nature. 



